Countryside homes plan rejected

MP Shailesh Vara with villagers at the site of the proposed development

The request for planning permission just outside the conservation area of Barnack was quickly and unanimously cast aside by councillors after passionate pleas from residents.

Members on the councillor’s planning committee also hit out at Gladman Developments for not sending anyone to the meeting last week where the decision was made.

Council officers had recommended that the site be refused for six reasons. These included the development being unnecessary and creating a harmful visual impact.

Objectors to the proposals highlighted the strain the development would put on schools and roads.

Councillor David Over, member for Barnack, said: “It looks like [the developers] have run roughshod over us and they do not want to take the advice of anybody.”

Resident June Woollard, who has lived in the area all her life, said: “This area has been carefully developed over the years. The facilities would simply not sustain a development of this proposed size.”

Coun Peter Hiller described the application as “predatory”, adding: “It needs to be kicked into touched.”

Coun David Harrington said: “The sheer audacity of the applicant not to attend this meeting astounds me.

“This is one of the most inappropriate applications I’ve ever had to sit on and I’ve been on this committee a number of years.”

Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire, welcomed the unanimous decision to refuse the application, claiming “common sense has prevailed.”

He added: “Having visited the site, it is clear that the proposal was totally unacceptable given the size and nature of Barnack and the surrounding area.”